Unexpected Love
by Melissa Maria Cullen
Summary: He was the only one there for her Rating: More than T but less than M Vamb


Title: Unexpected Love  
Author: Melissa  
Pairing: Veronica/Lamb  
Word Count: 2,500+  
Rating: R  
Summary: He was the only one there for her  
Spoilers: This part is pre-series so none. And I'm undecided on if I'll continue... Its all up to you!  
Warnings: Umm... its R. There is like one graphic almost-sex scene and then some swears and stuff in between  
Disclaimer: Veronica Mars is not mine sadly, else the show would be so much better  
AN: This is coming a little out in left field as I am a HUGE LoVe shipper. This was done for my sister from another mister, Erika, who would love to see some Vamb action on the show. So I did this for her belated birthday/belated Christmas present. Sadly it took longer than I thought cause I actually had more fun writing this than LoVe (go figure) and I wanted it to be perfect. So please read and give some con-crit cause I am very self-conscious about this fic. I hope I did the Vamb right! And Erika, this is now your Valentine's Day gift!

As she lay in bed one summer night, Veronica tried to think and couldn't pinpoint when exactly all of the pieces of her life started to crumble. Was it when Duncan broke up with her? Oh perhaps, when Lilly died? Maybe it didn't start until her Dad accused Jake and got kicked out of office?

She glanced at the mostly naked sleeping form beside her and sighed. No, it wasn't any of those. It was the night of the Policemen's Ball.

It was the week after Duncan had broken up with her. Keith was down with the flu, and Lilly was sick of Veronica moping over Duncan so she convinced Veronica to steal Keith's invite and cover it as going to another 09er party. Luckily, this year's theme was masquerade, so Lilly and Veronica's true identities remained unknown. They arrived at the Neptune Grand and proceeded to have a ball, so to speak. But Veronica was hesitant at first, fearing that someone would somehow figure out their identities through their ornate masks. But Lilly calmed Veronica's fears with the following words.

"Don't worry V. For tonight, we're going to have pseudonyms, I am Kristina Launders and you, m'dear will be Madeline Vickerman. See? Our initials backwards with different names. Shall we dance, Madeline?"

Veronica simply smiled and replied with a posh accent, "Absolutely, Kristina. Lets paint this ballroom red."

Then somehow, between dancing with some of the young deputies and loosing Lilly when she went to the bathroom, Veronica drank some of the punch, not knowing one of the younger deputies had spiked it in hopes of livening up the party. The next morning, Veronica woke up next to one naked Deputy Don Lamb. Scrambling, Veronica gathered her dress and undergarments, all of which were splayed all over the room, obviously thrown in the heat of passion. She dressed quickly and grabbed her shoes before tiptoeing silently across the room. She almost made it to the door before a voice behind her stopped Veronica in her tracks.

"Where do you think you're going, Miss Mars?" Lamb's husky and sleepy drawl said accusingly. "Pulling a fuck and run? Tsk, tsk. And you're the Sheriff's daughter? I bet Daddy Mars wouldn't be so happy with his little girl pushing the sexual version of a serious crime."

By the time Lamb had said the last word, he had crossed the room and was so close to Veronica, that any closer and she would be face-first into his rock hard chest. He lifted her chin up so her face was near his and slowly descended his lips upon hers. He kissed her lightly and a volt of electricity shot through each of them, lighting a flame of passion inside both of them.

Lamb gently slid each of the straps on her dress down her shoulders, gently kissing each bare piece of flesh before moving the dress down her body, exposing her turquoise cotton bra and white cotton panties. Her entire body was full of pure innocence, but that didn't discourage Lamb from becoming aroused. He stepped back a little and drank her in.

Throughout their entire encounter, Veronica didn't notice his stark nakedness until she looked at his glazed, darkened eyes and happened to glace down—and oh my god, Veronica had never seen anything like it. Even the purple dildo that Lilly had gotten Veronica as a gag gift for her 16th birthday was smaller than him. Not that Veronica was comparing or anything.

Lamb saw her glancing at his prized possession and became filled with want for the petite blonde who had bought him pizza once or twice when he was working the graveyard shift and had cleaned him out in poker. Never did he want anything else more than to take her on the bed and actually remember this time, instead of it being a hazy memory.

He did just that, stepping back towards Veronica, threading his fingers through her long silky locks and kissing her deeply with everything he had. Veronica hesitantly kissed him back, before putting her whole self into the kiss.

She had never felt this way with Duncan. With him, it was hesitant touches and tender kisses. He never ignited her fire the way she felt right now with Lamb. As he moved his hands out of her hair and went down to cup her ass, Veronica jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist, making it simpler for him to maneuver them over to the bed. Lamb gently laid her down onto the bed and pulled back from their kiss when oxygen was necessary.

As soon as he pulled back, Veronica frantically looked up into his eyes, realizing how bad this was. She was 16 and he was… _Oh god how old was he? _

Looking back at her, Lamb seem to read her mind before replying, "24."

'_Shit,'_ she thought _'Mega shit. This is bad, really bad. How could we…' _A silent realization came over her as she began to grasp the fact that she was no longer a virgin, something she had planned to be until she was with the right guy. How could she have gotten so wasted? All she had had was…

'Punch' 

The only thing Veronica had drunk all night was the punch. Someone must have spiked it, probably Tommy Doyle, the most immature of all the deputies-in-training. Her dad never liked him but he was the county supervisor's nephew and who could deny the county supervisor? Now, probably because of Tommy, Veronica was no longer a virgin and she was screwed, both literally and figuratively. _'Shit'_

She quickly broke Lamb's gaze and lithely moved off the bed before sliding on her dress and shoes. She grabbed her purse and quickly moved for the door. Hand on the doorknob; she glanced back at Lamb, who sat dumbfounded on the bed, making no move to go after her.

She quietly whispered, "We'll just pretend this never happened, okay? Next time you see me, just act as normally as you can."

Lamb gulped and hesitantly nodded before lying back on the bed and burying his face in the pillow as he heard the lock click.

The following day, Lilly bombarded her with questions about where she had disappeared to and who with, claiming to have covered for her when Lianne had called to confirm Veronica got home safely after the party and make sure that Veronica was sleeping there that night.

Feeling guilty, Veronica spilled what had happened; how she had lost her virginity to Lamb and what happened when she woke up. She was met with whoops and hollers from Lilly, along with plenty of comments on how Veronica was crossing over to her side, only to have her admit it was a one-time thing. Lilly only gave her a skeptical glance and proceeded to gossip with Veronica about the young, hot and willing deputy she herself had slept with that same night, only to go on to whine about how clingy he was acting and wouldn't stop calling her cell phone.

The rest of the week went on as usual, ending with the Pep Squad car wash that Friday, where Lilly claimed to have a secret. Veronica was compelled to ask what was going on now, only to be interrupted by Shelby, the snobby senior who thought she was in charge, yelling at them to get back to work.

Veronica thought nothing of Lilly's statement until on the way home from getting take-out from Luigi's with her dad, a call over the police scanner was requesting back up at the Kane residence and that was when Veronica's world felt like it was falling to pieces.

After disobeying her father's orders and getting out of the car, then unable to get a response out of catonic Duncan, Veronica wandered into to the backyard, only to discover her father examining the bashed, bloody head of Lilly, who lay sprawled on the cement. A crimson pool of blood surrounded her blonde halo of hair, her expression emotionless.

Jake and Celeste stood to the side sobbing, Lamb in charge of keeping them away from the crime scene. He hadn't seen Veronica since the night she chose to forget but now weighed heavily on his mind. Now, for the first time in a week, he had to see her when she was crying in Keith's arms, uncontrollable when all he wanted to do was reach out and comfort her. He got that chance, when he heard Keith ask him, "Don, take Veronica to your squad car and take her home. She doesn't need to see this."

Keith passed his daughter over into Lamb's waiting embrace, while she turned and sobbed into his chest, while he was just happy to be near her and be able to smell her strawberry-kiwi scented shampoo. He knew it was wrong to feel like this in the situation they were currently entrapped in but he couldn't help himself.

As he lead her to the squad car he had arrived in, her sobbing subsided until there were only occasional hiccups while tears streamed down her angelic face. He brought her over to the passenger side and buckled her in as you would a small child and quickly jogged to his side and started up the Crown Vic. Lamb pulled out of the Kane driveway and headed to an address he now knew by heart, having memorized it all week. The car was filled with a silence only interrupted by Veronica's less frequent hiccups.

Halfway to the Mars home, Lamb pulled to the side of the road and shut off the engine. He looked over at Veronica, who sat emotionless and staring through the windshield. He put his hand on her shoulder and winced when she tensed up.

"Veronica, are you alright?" He knew that was a dickhead question to ask, as he had the answer playing out in his head: _'Of course not, Deputy. My best friend is dead. How could I be alright?' _

But instead Veronica still stared out the windshield, her face stoic. Feeling frustrated, Lamb took her face in his hands and directed her stare in his direction before lightly kissing her lips. He knew this wasn't the right time or place but he needed to get a reaction out of her and he needed to now.

Luckily, when he pulled back, a look of shock was on Veronica's face. Not the reaction he was expecting but he took what he could get.

"I thought we would forget this," she accused coldly.

"I never did." He replied, before adding, "I have never felt the way I did after that night with anyone, Veronica. I can't forget; it's too hard." He finished his statement in a soft voice that made Veronica melt, before realizing that she felt the same way.

The previous week, she had a dull ache in her heart. At first she thought it was because of her break-up with Duncan. But now she knew it was because she felt something for Lamb.

" I—I feel the same way." She admitted, quietly. "We can't let anyone know because of our age difference. I really don't want you going down for statutory rape anytime soon." Her breath hitched, "And this is neither the time nor the place to discuss this. Please take me home."

Lamb nodded silently before putting the keys back in the ignition and starting the squad car. They drove to Veronica's house in silence and when Veronica got out of the car, she started towards her door before moving to Lamb's open window and boldly kissed him fully on the mouth.

"I'll call you tomorrow." She added before jogging briskly up the walkway and disappeared through her door.

That night, the both of them dreamt of each other instead of blonde girls and blood.

Veronica sighed as she remembered what happened after that week. Lamb was waiting in the shadows after Lilly's funeral. Once everyone had filed out of the Roman Catholic church the Kanes only attended on holidays like Christmas and Easter, Veronica snuck out back to the small garden that was home to a marble statue of the Virgin Mary. The previous day, she and Lamb had talked on the phone and there he was, in his Sunday best, sitting on a marble bench that curved to form an 'O'. Veronica scurried to the bench and into his open embrace, letting the tears she had held through the service finally flow down her cheeks.

"It was terrible, Don. They couldn't even have an opened casket. I want to kill the scum who did this to her." Veronica sobbed, her voice full of anger. Lamb couldn't help but smile. Veronica had never called him straight-out 'Don' before. Usually it was Lamb, Deputy, or Mr. Don but never just 'Don'. He couldn't help but smile and his heartstrings tugged with love as he realized how different this was from their last two encounters. And despite the circumstances they were in, he realized that he was truly falling in love with the blonde hurricane that was Veronica Mars.

"It's going to be okay, Veronica. I'll find out who did this and I'll make sure to see them pay." He squeezed her tighter to his chest and rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying to sooth her. Once her tears subsided, they pulled away briefly and looked each other in the eyes. Then they realized, that this was the real deal.

Later on, Don was there to comfort her after her dad lost his job and when he was asked to replace Keith.

Even though he had a tough exterior, no one knew of the petite underage blonde who warmed his heart every time he saw her. He acted like an asshole to the Mars family, though he truly pitied Keith, who had to chase after drunken Lianne every night, while he dried Veronica's tears. He watched Veronica slowly and gradually fall apart after all of her former friends turned on her after her father accused Jake Kane of having a part in the murder of his own daughter.

And even though he didn't agree with Keith's views, he was suspicious of Abel Koontz's "confession" and secretly worked on the case with Veronica, hoping to find something false about the case. It led nowhere, which broke Veronica's heart.

Now, they lay next to each other, exposed and vulnerable. While they were both in their undergarments, they had not had sex since the night of the ball, as they wanted to feel ready and comfortable instead of being thrown together in the heat of passion.

The summer after Lilly died was one filled with blessings and curses. On one hand, they were together. But on the other, her beloved LeBaron was egged almost every week.

Veronica cuddled close to Don, who had wrapped his arm around her. The summer had been bliss, as they were together whenever neither of them was working, but the following day, Hell would be unleashed as it was the first day of junior year. And right now, all Veronica wanted to do was feel safe. Ever since the night of the ball, Veronica was Cinderella and Don had assumed himself into the position of Prince Charming.


End file.
